As for Laugesen, he says he checked with Bain after taking Blumenthal's call -- and while Bain didn't have a recording of his conversation with Blumenthal, he maintained, based on his notes and recollections, that the paraphrases were accurate in spite of any editing they'd undergone. That left Laugesen in a quandary: "He says she said that; she insisted she didn't. So what I wanted to achieve by putting what we did in the paper was to at least say she does not stand behind those statements and says she never said those things, because she was taking a lot of flak for them."
This gesture may have been intended to placate Blumenthal, but what she calls the Weekly's "correction that wasn't even an apology" failed to do the trick. "I would hope the media would feel its responsibility to use its power to really help people understand what the issues are surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and this debate in particular," she says. "But instead, they just confused the situation."
Jo Rivers
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Hard sorries, mark II: By the way, the above remarks from editor Laugesen may be the last from a Boulder Weekly representative to appear in this space for a while. In our September 12 edition, about news-rack ordinances, I wrote that Weekly publisher Stewart Sallo hadn't bothered to return a call on the topic, which he'd previously been "up in arms" about. A few days later, I received the following voice-mail message:
"Stewart Sallo calling, Roberts. Just called to tell you that I thought your remarks that were brought to my attention by someone on my editorial staff were incredibly inappropriate and unprofessional. I don't know who the hell you think you are. You're just a reporter for Westword. I'm the publisher of a newspaper. I'm a very, very busy man. I spoke to you kindly on one occasion -- that's fine. I wasn't able to speak to you on this occasion, and you don't have to make any stupid, sarcastic comments about it in your rag, okay? So let me just tell you: Don't bother contacting me or anyone else on the Boulder Weekly staff ever again for any information you need for your stories. If you want to discuss this further, or if you want to submit an apology, I would be happy to discuss that with you. But at this point, you're on my shit list, and don't bother calling my office again for any purpose other than to express your apologies."
For the record, to coin a phrase, I didn't apologize -- but I did leave a message letting Mr. Sallo know I'd be printing his observations, which weren't identified as being off the record. Even so, I doubt if he'll see them. I've heard he's a very, very busy man.
A peek into our closet: Apparently, my sources inside Westword aren't as good as those outside it. I didn't learn until months after the fact that a former Westword staff writer, Steve Jackson, had filed an age-discrimination lawsuit against this publication in U.S. District Court.
The document, dated June 25, states that Jackson worked at Westword from September 1993 until September 2001, when editor Patricia Calhoun "fired Jackson, falsely claiming that his position was being eliminated due to 'company-wide downsizing.' This 'downsizing' came a mere month after the hiring of two younger writers" -- current reporter David Holthouse and former staffer James Hibberd, who was transferred to Westword from a sister paper, Phoenix New Times. A few months later, Hibberd was let go in a subsequent cost-cutting move akin to ones made at other papers owned by New Times Media, Westword's parent company, in the last quarter of 2001. Countless publications not affiliated with New Times laid off workers during this period, too, with most blaming plummeting advertising revenue after 9/11.
The complaint, which was offered once the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission declined to take action in the matter, further alleges that "Jackson was fired due to his age, 46, and the higher salary he commanded due to his seniority." Also mentioned are health issues that may have increased the cost paid by Westword for group health insurance. New Times responded to these and other assertions with an August 8 filing that listed nine "affirmative defenses" denying any wrongdoing.
Jackson, who's authored several books, including Monster, based on a story first published in Westword, declined to comment about the case, as did his attorney, Cris Campbell. For his part, New Times spokesman Steve Suskin, the company's legal counsel, limited his remarks to two sentences: "New Times did not and does not discriminate against its employees on the basis of age. Economic conditions necessitated making some qualitative decisions about the writing staff."
To be continued.
